Wellcome Collection

Wellcome Collection is the free visitor destination for the incurably curious.

Located at 183 Euston Road, London, it explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. The venue offers visitors contemporary and historic exhibitions and collections, lively public events, the world-renowned Wellcome Library, a café, a shop, a restaurant and conference facilities as well as publications, tours, a book prize, international and digital projects. Wellcome Collection is part of the Wellcome Trust.

Items from this collection

Collection details

Key artists and exhibits

Exhibition details are listed below, you may need to scroll down to see them all.

Exhibition (permanent)

Medicine Now

1 November 2013 — 1 November 2018 *on now

This exhibition presents a range of ideas about science and medicine since Henry Wellcome's death in 1936. It reflects the experiences and interests of scientists, doctors and patients.

Within the huge field of medicine this exhibition attempts to focus on only a few topics: the body, genomes, obesity and living with medical science. Each is explored through a range of exhibits from science and everyday life, as well as artistic responses to the issues presented in red 'art cubes'.

Suitable for

Family friendly

Website

Medicine Man

1 November 2014 — 1 November 2018 *on now

Henry Wellcome was a man of many parts: entrepreneur, philanthropist, patron of science and pioneer of aerial photography. He also created one of the world's great museums: a vast stockpile of evidence about our universal interest in health and the body.

More than 150 years after his birth in 1853, this exhibition reunites a cross-section of extraordinary objects from his collection, ranging from diagnostic dolls to Japanese sex aids, and from Napoleon's toothbrush to George III's hair. It also provides a very different perspective on some of our own obsessions with medicine and health.

In 'Medicine Man' some objects are gathered by type and others by broad cross-cultural themes. Seven other objects are presented individually and are examined by a variety of commentators from different backgrounds, to show that one object can mean many different things and tell many different stories.

This exhibition is free. See opening hours. Some non-flash photography is permitted in this exhibition. See our photography policy.

Suitable for

Not suitable for children

Website

Ayurvedic Man - encounters with Indian medicine

16 November 2017 — 8 April 2018 *on now

‘Ayurvedic Man’ is named after an 18th-century painting from the Wellcome Library that illustrates the organs and vessels of the male body according to classical Ayurveda. Meaning ‘the knowledge of life’, Ayurveda comprises a centuries-old yet ever-evolving set of medical practices that relies on diagnostics and treatments that combine herbal medications, diet and massage. Widely practised today, it has undergone a series of transformations during encounters with biomedicine and the global market of ‘wellness’. These journeys parallel the ongoing reinterpretation and exotification of historical objects from other cultures.

The exhibition showcases an exquisite range of material, including Sanskrit, Persian and Tibetan manuscripts, vibrant gouache paintings, erotic manuals and animal-shaped surgical tools. The displays are framed by newly unearthed correspondence to and from Dr Paira Mall, who was sent to India in 1911 to collect cultural and historical objects for Henry Wellcome’s museum and obtain botanical knowledge. The exhibition includes a new commission by artist Ranjit Kandalgaonkar reimagining events that took place during the Bombay plague epidemic of 1896.

At a time when pluralistic approaches to health are growing in popularity, societies around the world are at increasing risk of losing natural resources, medicinal plants and traditional knowledge. ‘Ayurvedic Man’ highlights the delicate balance between sharing and protecting heritage, cultural resources and environmental biodiversity.

Ranjit Kandalgaonkar’s commission follows from his residency at Gasworks, London, which was supported by the Charles Wallace India Trust and Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation.

Watch the trailer for Forensics: the anatomy of crime

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General enquiries

Media enquiries

Telephone

020 7611 2222

All information is drawn from or provided by the venues themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.

Are museums the right place for discussions about social issues, and should their exhibitions tackle them? Rachel Teskey takes a look at the Wellcome's new show, which starts with the 13th century Bethlem Royal Hospital.